Sunday, June 13, 2010

Randomness

Well I showed you the lettuce and Asian greens from the garden last week. I have a bunch of photos from other parts that I took so I thought I'd just show you the rest. I'm sure they have all grown in the last four days so just picture bigger plants in your mind.

The bean bed is starting to take off. The pole beans are in the back and the bush beans in the front.

Butternut Squash

Onion Bed

Tomatoes

Every time I go to the old house I bring back some compost. I have all I need at the new house right now, but if I'm really really lucky some of the side yard garden will be done in time for fall crops. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm hoping.

In other news I've been having trouble finding a compost bin. I was thinking a rotating one off the ground because of rodents, but now I've changed my mind. The ones that aren't costly as heck just don't last long. My little square plastic one lasted fine for over 15 years. So I went to Agway and all they had were the rotating ones. They had sold out all of their others. Then I went to Mahoney's, which is a large garden center, but I didn't like their composters. One had a lid that could blow off in the wind. Like that will keep the critters out. And the other black composter was too heavy to lift off and the sliding door at the bottom was too sticky to use (and it wasn't even full with anything).

So I'm thinking I want another Soil Saver Compost Bin. It has flaws, but I've learned to deal with them over time. I turn the compost by lifting off the whole bin. It is light enough for me to do this. I'll put a square of hardware cloth on the bottom so the rodents can't get in. The top locks down well. It is cheap and will work. Now I just have to find one in our area. I know the City of Cambridge sells them, but will they sell to non residents? I guess I'll find out.

The good news was when I was at Agway I asked if I could take some pallets. We fit seven of them into my car. I'll need more since I'm creating a bigger composter and leaf bins to store my leaves in the fall. The black plastic one is for kitchen scrap disposal since it can keep out the rodents. And I've already got one of my neighbors that doesn't add chemicals on his lawn to give me his lawn clippings. I told him I'd be up and running soon. I hope I am.

9 comments:

I am really thinking of a composter myself. After years of just using the 'throw it in a pile ' method, I'm thinking I'd like something a little more efficient. The chickens eat so much of our waste now that I don't have as much going into the compost either.

"Here comes that crazy lady with her buckets of dirt!" I can just hear the neighbors, LOL! When my neighbor's son-in-law visits her, he often stands at the fence and asks what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. I guess we gardeners are just a different breed. Yes, I would transport my compost if I moved, too. I really must get a new composter though, since I've been told mine looks like a potty chair ;-)

I get a cheap plastic garbage bin from Home Depot/ Lowes, drill some holes in the bottom, and throw my composting material in that. It great because the top keeps out bugs and other pests, and because it is cylindrical I can put it on it's side and roll it around to turn it. It works out great.

I'm a throw it in a pile and eventually dig dirt out of the bottom, so it works fine for me. I also like to see the leaves and whatnot in there and feel virtuous and thrifty :-) prettier than a plastic container, imho.

There doesn't seem to be a rodent problem. I don't bother with the top wire lid.

I use wire bins for my compost and it has been a good system over all but the wire sides do get bent out of shape a bit when I lean on them accidentally when pitchforking the contents to turn it. I have thought about creating a more sturdy bin system but then talk myself out of it because these work perfectly fine. You are smart to go with what you know works well for you. I hope you can find one locally soon.

I like my Earth Machine - the one with the skidding door. I never use the door, I just let the whole bin compost and then lift it up and move the pile to the garden. That said, we did build a larger system for plant waste, weeds, leaves, straw, etc.

The Mom, I would think you would have all the chicken bedding going into the compost pile.

Granny, how could someone not bring their compost?

Jan, mine is very close, so I want the kitchen scraps to be contained. After they decompose enough I'll put them in under the grass clippings.

Caroline, that is a good idea to if you can find a trash can that has a good enough lid. I've yet to find one good enough for me. I'm probably too picky.

Karen Anne, I like that one for the lawn and garden clippings, but not for kitchen waste. I find the animals get into too much for me.

Thomas, I often just let it sit for long periods of time.

kitsapFG, I've used that in the past, but now my space is more limited and I wanted square. So I figured the pallets would work. I hope so.

Katrien, I'm like that too. I never use those doors. I just pick the composter up and move it over. I use that kind for kitchen scraps, but the rest of the waste goes into larger bins. I'd never keep up with it in a tiny bin. I hope that is still the case with the new house. I need to find more people to give my lawn clippings.

About Me

I've been gardening for almost three decades now, ever since my husband and I bought our first house. Every garden has been different. The first was small and the soil was almost pure sand. The second was larger and I had heavy clay. The third and current one which is just outside of Boston, is by far the largest even though the lot is by far the smallest. Since we bought the house new, we designed the landscaping ourselves, and the soil we added was fairly good. My challenge here is the location. We are so close to our neighbors that their houses can shade the garden.